Hello peep!
Ya girl is back after a long stint at Nanowrimo! It's been a gruelling couple months but hey, at least there's a nice long chapter in the folds!
...which might totally not be what you guys want. I get it.
Right ho! Onwards!
A/N: Okay, so for the chapters as we move on, I just want to say that there is not going to be any OUTRIGHT hate between Slytherin and the other houses. In my opinion, the hatred towards Slytherin began because Voldemort recruited heavily from that particular house and since he himself belonged to that house, fifty years was enough for the kids to stereotype Slytherin as the 'evil' house. While there is going to be some friction, it is all going to be due to people's ACTIONS and not because they belong to one particular house.
However, of course, Rose does come bearing such stereotypes in her mind. ;) And since we're watching the show from her eyes, there is going to be some...interesting...scenarios happening.
My eyes opened with a snap.
The sight in front of me was completely unfamiliar. A deep green canopy hung all around the bed I was lying in. I was on my back, arms loose to my sides…and it was becoming uncomfortably clear that I was the only one hidden behind the safety cover of the bed hangings.
Soft, low voices were audible and I sat up slowly, one hand hovering uncertainly over the parting in the velvet hangings. The fabric felt alien to my fingers. Too thick…the canopy hangings in the Gryffindor had been a simply but cool cotton, while Ravenclaw used pure silk, as my sister had told me.
Slipping two fingers between the folds, I peeked out, seeing Druella Rosier first. Her platinum blond hair was rolled onto the top of her hair, a long shirt being tucked into an equally long skirt as she turned her head and then hips in front of the mirror.
"Rosella," I felt someone move to the free side of the bed. I pushed my head out to look at Lila. She wasn't dressed much either, still in a long shirt and I could spy a flowery set of pajama pants under it.
"You should start to get ready, we have breakfast." She pulled the hangings of the four posters' further aside, and I cringed a little into the bed. The sleepwear I had purchased in Diagon Alley was distinctively wizard wear. A short sleeved button down with flannel pants with moving pictures of little dolphins that breached and dipped back in the ocean at the hem line.
However, I could see Druella's eyes catch the design in the mirror, a small smirk at her lips which had me quickly pick up the small toiletries bag Dumbledore had provided and head straight for the common bathroom.
By the time I came back, teeth now clean and face washed, the dorm was nearly empty, only Lila sitting calmly, waiting for me. I gave her a thankful nod, turning to dress so we could head down for breakfast.
By the time I buckled up the old fashioned shoes of the uniform – no shoelaces in the 40s for ladies – I had almost forgotten the raspy laugh of Bellatrix in my dreams.
Walking towards the Great Hall with Lila at my side gave me an odd sense of anticipation. It was an awful mixture of fascination laced with dread, seeping through my arms as my head swiveled left and right.
The castle was much the same as it had been back in my time. Flagstones, suits of armor, moving portraits, the works…of course some of them were missing or there were others up in their place but all in all, you couldn't tell that you were actually fifty years behind your time.
Of course…the people gave it away.
Rolls of hair, swishy long skirts that reached well past the knees – while, uniform skirts had been comfortably at the knees in the nineties – and dainty little buckled boots in the place of shoes were glimmering on the pristine girls wandering about and the boys were much more upright and older looking than the scrawny or gangly teens of my time.
Lila led me towards the Slytherin end of the Hall, sliding in next to where Fawley was already spooning sugar over his porridge.
"Good morning," Alphard said cheerfully, pushing trays of toast towards us.
"How was your first night, Rose?" Fawley asked before taking his first bite.
My arms folded on the table, his words conjuring an image of a tall, raven haired boy with too deep eyes that were alarmingly closed. Words that had sent shivers down the span of my back reverberated in my head, making me actually turn my head to look down the length of the Slytherin table, looking out for the said boy.
"Rose?"
I looked back at Lila.
"It was okay. First night jitters, of course, just a little; but it was over all good." I looked down to the tray of toasts, placing two on my plate and piling on sausages and beans on them. All this tension was making me hungry.
About ten minutes before classes would start; the House heads climbed down from staff table and handed down time tables. Students passed down the schedules down the table and as soon as the roll of parchment touched my hands, ink sprawled across the paper.
I watched lines form and merge into a table before honing on the Wednesday column.
Wednesday
9 AM – Transfiguration (Prof. Albus Dumbledore) with Gryffindor
10 AM – Charms (Prof. Amana Barlow) with Ravenclaw
11 AM – Herbology (Prof. Louis Laurier) with Hufflepuff
12 PM – Lunch
1 PM – Defense against the Dark Arts (Prof. Galatea Merrythought) with Gryffindor
2 PM – History of Magic (Prof. Cuthbert Binns) with Hufflepuff
3 PM – Potions (Prof. Horace Slughorn) with Ravenclaw
11 PM – Astronomy (Prof. Ira Stonewell)
All main classes, I sighed in relief, before wondering what special classes I would be taking in this time.
"Oh fantastic," Fawley groaned immediately. "Transfiguration first thing in the morning," He said as the four of us began to pack up and leave for our classes.
"You don't like Professor Dumbledore?" I asked surprised. I hadn't thought Fawley harbored the usual Slytherin hatred for the wizard from our conversation on the train.
"It's not that. I just can't get anything done with Transfiguration. I always feel like Dumbledore's too nice to say that I'm going to fail my OWLs." He said gloomily as he trudged on in front of me.
I glanced at Alphard, eyebrows raised and when he ginned back, dark wild hair bouncing upon his shoulders, he looked so remarkably like Sirius that I had to glance away, straight over his shoulder and catching sight of him.
Riddle leaned against the wall at the entrance, hands behind his back, the way I'd seen him a lot at the orphanage. In front of him, stood a girl and her deep caramel hair swung free to the middle of her back, free from any tight rolls or waves of the time. I couldn't see the girl's face but anyone talking to Riddle of their own volition had to be a point of concern, I decided.
Almost as if he felt the heavy gaze, Riddle's eyes flicked over the girl's shoulder, straight to me. As usual, those dark eyes were unreadable, almost as if he had just glanced my way out of sheer coincidence. However, his stare suspended and I hoped to Merlin it didn't seem as if I had just been glaring at him.
I quickly averted my eyes, rushing to keep pace with the three friends I'd been fortunate enough to make.
Transfiguration classes hadn't changed. It was comforting to walk into the big, airy classroom, almost as if it was just another day at school but when I looked towards where McGonagall would be sitting, pouring over some parchment or grading papers, it wasn't the wizened witch who I had looked up to.
In her stead, sat the younger Albus Dumbledore, his flaming auburn hair and beard collected in an ostentatious aquamarine robes. He looked up at the entrance of the students, finding me with a subtle nod.
I smiled ruefully, walking towards his desk.
"Good morning, my dear. I trust last night went well for you." He clasped his hands on the desk, looking up at me.
"Yes sir," I said with a shrug.
Dumbledore's eyes sparkled. "In that case, please do visit me tonight. I would love to know how your first day goes." He smiled, reminiscent of his twinkling cheeriness when he was alive in my time. It was enough to settle some anxiety in my stomach.
"Yes sir, I will, just after the astronomy class, if that is okay with you."
"It is, now let's get started with our first transfiguration OWL class." He said this in a louder voice and I turned around to walk to the seat, the door to the class shutting with a wave of his wand.
Dumbledore allowed students to scramble for their seats and I was one of them, going straight to where I saw Lila go to.
To my growing disconcertion, I saw Fawley already sitting with Alphard while right in front of my eyes, Druella Rosier slipped in beside Lila. Lila's eyes widened but she didn't say anything – only looking at me with a helpless gaze.
It made sense, nobody in these times would actually ask someone to leave their seat to make space for a friend.
I waved a hand, showing it was okay before turning to look at the other spaces in rising embarrassment. I could feel Dumbledore's patient stance at the head of the class but the only space I could spy available was where Riddle sat.
He sat primly on his chair, head turned politely to where the girl he was with leaned almost right across his desk. He had a light, open look to his face but his feelings weren't exactly my priority.
"Miss Hornby, if you could resume your seat next to Miss Black, so that Miss Revel can take a seat."
Dumbledore's voice was mostly calm, no hints of any concern or anger anywhere in it but my face lost blood. My head turned in his direction, pleading with him to allow me to sit next to Bellatrix's ancestor rather than the Dark Lord himself, but he was looking down and I had to crumble in defeat.
My feet were leaden as I raised one to walk in the direction to where Riddle's eyes had already left this "Miss Hornby". They were back to being trained on me and there was just a hint of something behind his eyes that were no longer unreadable.
I gave him a steady look back, even though everything in me screamed to not meet his eyes for too long – as if he would cause me immense pain without even the cruciatus curse.
I glanced out of my eye towards where Dumbledore had regained his seat and I looked back to where the girl still hadn't moved.
When she finally turned about, cat like eyes roving over me top to bottom, it only made me bristle further as she flicked her caramel mane behind one shoulder.
"Of course, Professor Dumbledore," she called, almost absently.
The somewhat nasal sound of an obvious caricature made me snort, making the girl's eyes snap to mine sharply.
"My name is Olive Hornby." She introduced, without extending her hand – like it was supposed to mean something.
"Roselle Revel," I glanced behind her, "may I get to my seat now?"
It was wrong. I knew it of course, I didn't know this girl and for all I knew she was probably just the usual kind of person full of how they looked but I couldn't help it. She reminded me of Pansy Parkinson and that was enough to pull up all of my sarcasm rushing up to the surface like a tidal wave.
When Olive slowly moved away to sit next to Walburga Black, I looked back around to see Riddle's lips pull to the side just a smidgen. The bastard was smirking, I slammed the books onto the desk, sitting right at the edge of the seat.
There was no need to be any closer to him than was absolutely necessary.
Already something of a prick of unease was unfurling in the pit of my stomach, tendrils branching out that made my shoulders tense with the awareness of being all too close to the monster who had wiped out my existence with one fell sweep of the wand that he had in his pockets.
I managed to slide a quick look towards the handsome boy, trying to compare the chiseled features to what he would become. There was nothing to suggest that this man would lose all his hair, have his nose drop off and become the very personification of PLEASE DON'T DO THAT.
But then, appearances were deceptive. Just like I hoped mine were – I hoped my stoic face was enough to conceal the fact I was about ready to hurl.
I looked back to the front where Dumbledore stood up again – finally ready to start the class.
"Good morning, and welcome to your first OWL Transfiguration lecture. I hope you have all sufficiently emptied your minds of the knowledge you gained last year so we can fill them again afresh."
The introduction was met by genial chuckles from the Gryffindor corner and with no restraint my eyes went wistfully to where even three were crammed in one bench.
It reminded me of being sometimes sandwiched between Neville and Ron, laughing about how McGonagall would have to magic us off of each other.
Everyone in Slytherin was sitting far away from each other, with plenty of space to spread out. It was as cold as it was unfriendly.
"We're going to start with switching spells today, before moving on to Conjuring spells. I'm sure this is easy enough for all of you. Please take the following instructions down and along with your textbook, this will be your theory. Finish it before we move to the practical, I take that will be more important to practice than putting pen to paper, you will have plenty of that this year."
Even as he began to talk, the piece of chalk behind him scribbling on the chalkboard, I caught Riddle delve into his bag, bringing out parchment and quills, unscrewing the bottle of blue ink carefully.
Meanwhile, I slumped easily in the bench, fingers flexing as it released the worry that I might have to deal with a topic I had no idea about. But then, it stood to reason that Wizarding curriculum didn't really undergo many changes.
After all, how much could you teach wizard kids anyway?
We all knew the basics, and magic was subjective to all forms of experiments and changes as per the caster.
I looked at Riddle again. The biggest name in magical experiments sat right next to me – after Dumbledore and Grindelwald themselves.
I sincerely doubted he was actually being studious. Leaning over, I peaked at his parchment – just as he turned his head in my direction.
"Miss Revel," he murmured, eyes roving over the empty table in front of me. "Won't you be writing this down?"
I looked up from his notes to where he now looked at me, an eyebrow arched. "What's it to you?" came out of my big fat unfortunate mouth…
Obviously, he wasn't pleased.
Riddle's forehead scrunched into a scowl as he looked back down to his parchment.
"If you are unable to keep up, I am the one who will have to tutor you. I gave the Headmaster my word and Dumbledore," I caught him shoot the older professor a quick look that was in one word – venomous, "would hold me to it."
I shrugged.
"Doesn't that teach us that we shouldn't be making rash decisions?" When he didn't answer, I couldn't help but goad him further, "And to think," I lowered my voice, "All of this could be avoided if only you hadn't come up to suck up to Dippet that night."
What was I doing? Why was I even talking to him; let alone trying to provoke him? I knew who he was. I was scared of who he was. Then why was it that when he stopped writing to level me a look, it made me not gulp in absolute terror.
It only made me smile sickly sweetly.
"Miss Revel, would you be willing to do a small demonstration as to the switching spell?"
Our attention wavered, snapping to where Dumbledore smiled genially enough.
"Sir?" I queried.
"It doesn't have to be perfect in the first try. You could switch the ears, if that's what happens." He continued.
I stood up shakily, catching the smirk on Riddle's face spread further as I walked over to Dumbledore's desk. A huge barn owl was removed from its cage, placed upon a gilded perch on the desk.
"Right then, Miss Revel,"
I slipped my wand out of my robes, fist tightening on the hilt as I felt the eyes of every single student in the room on me. This was fine. I had done this before. I had given an entire OWL – and gotten Exceeds Expectations.
Of course, it would be humiliating to be unable to do this – but it would also go along the narrative of me being home schooled. The sight of that stupid smirk made me move the wand, as I was supposed to.
The wand tip traced the motion of the switch, the owl's ears flattening and head roving about as it reacted to the magic weaving around it. and then, it rose an inch in the air, wings flapping open before it began to shrink, the head and legs folding into its body and then with a light thunk, a perfect set of silver opera glasses landed onto Dumbledore's desk.
There was silence for a split second before Dumbledore raised the glasses up for the class to see.
"No feathers or claws at all," He beamed. "I think it's fair to say you're not going to be having any problems with practical switching spells after all."
I smiled uncertainly as he allowed me to go back to my seat, just barely noticing a curious sheen to Riddle's eyes. As I watched the rest of the students file to the owls to turn them to glasses, I realized what it was.
Every single person had trouble doing it.
They were all doing the spell for the first time, some of the glasses had clawed handles, and some of the barrels had feathers. A couple owls didn't even turn, instead fixing the student with a stern, unimpressed gaze.
Except Riddle…
He strode from the desk towards Dumbledore and just for a split second when he aimed his wand at the owl, all I could see was him pointing it towards real people.
At me, At Harry, At Dumbledore, at the countless who had died in his zeal for power…
Of course, there was no hesitation on his part.
One second the white wand tip was aligned with the owl's curious gaze, and then another pair of opera glasses lay on Dumbledore's desk, this time looking as if they'd been carved out of bone, with glittering emeralds set into them.
It made a shiver run down my spine.
He didn't wait to bask in his teacher's praise, immediately turning on his heel to walk back to the seat.
"Well done everyone. Please remember that this is the first day which means that you all are going to be practicing a lot for your examinations. And of course, congratulation to Miss Revel and Mr. Riddle, take ten points each for Slytherin."
It was then that I felt Riddle turn to give me a heavy look and I realized.
I had just shown an extent of my powers, of my hand at advantage. I had made a serious mistake.
As the day moved on, it was clear that Tom Riddle was the favorite of all the teachers. He was the best student, an eloquent speaker, incredibly intelligent and extremely powerful. I could feel his magic pulse whenever he raised his wand and it wasn't hard to understand why he was Prefect and Model Student.
The fact that I could do and knew most of the curriculum was due to already having done it before – even though some of the memories were hazy. However, Riddle – he attempted and bested spells at first tries. He was almost…unnaturally adept.
After Transfiguration, mercifully – I didn't have to be near him. There were enough spaces in the Charms classroom to allow me to sit next to Lila. Herbology made us space out, considering we had to deal with plants that didn't like being touched and lashed out, causing many students to duck or lunge out of the way.
It was messy and exhausting and when it was time for Lunch, I was glad to be traipsing upstairs to clean up. I had forgotten how grueling magical gardening was. Somehow the venomous Tentacula had been more dangerous than Amycus Carrow on a death march.
I had tried not to look but it was obvious that he hadn't come back down to lunch and I felt my shoulders settle as I tore into the plate full of meat.
I missed Ron…
Of course, the luck ran short when it was time for Defense against the Dark Art. Taught by a witch named Merrythought, she gave me a kindly but pitiful smile at my story and ushered me – again – right next to the Dark lord.
The sick feeling came back, harsher and more vicious this time, knowing he could shoot one killing curse at me perhaps without even a glance to the side. I had already heckled him in the morning; I could tell he wasn't thrilled to have me as a partner again.
I spent the entire hour nearly hanging off the edge of my seat.
Miraculously, I escaped him to be able to go to History of Magic…which was a torture unto itself. And as if it was muscle memory, my brain completely shut down; even though watching Binns teach gave me a brief hint of nostalgia.
By the time, Potions came on, the final class for the day at least; my body had turned to lead, weighed down by the books and thoughts of the day.
Back in my time, Snape's reign had been cold, dark and obviously repulsed by any form of illumination that didn't seem sinister. When Horace Slughorn had taken over, the doors of the dungeon had started to be left open. Small enchanted windows that let in glorious sunlight were set up. Lovely smelling potions and aromatics were common and it was a pleasant and welcome change.
A huge smile spread over my face when I stepped into the dungeon, following Fawley into the side the Slytherins stood in. It was Slughorn's teaching career of course, back when he was the one teaching Riddle, I remembered, but it was clear the man himself hadn't changed at all in all those years.
The Gryffindor house entered, standing to the other side of the room and for a brief moment I saw myself with them, teasing Hermione, cursing Malfoy with Ron and Harry and trying to stay away from the spray of Seamus' inevitable spray of exploding potion.
I took a deep a staggering breath, only noticing a beat later that Riddle and Olive Hornby stood right across from me. The rattling breath escaping me drew his gaze – cold and imperious now – and he looked away just as quickly, almost as if disgusted.
I scoffed mentally.
Slughorn set us to make small bouts of draughts of peace. With a steaming cauldron in front of me and an array of ingredients, I finally admitted defeat.
I was always absolutely horrible at potions. Snape used to bully Neville but it had been me who had absolutely no memory for ingredients and methodologies. I had only scraped by with an Acceptable due to the unhealthy amount of hours I had spent with Hermione up in the library. She had drilled study practices, memory patterns into both me and Neville and I starkly remembered Neville sobbing once because of how strict the schedules were.
I may or may not have joined him.
When class ended, with Slughorn kindly announcing he wouldn't be grading potions for the first week, he swept over to me.
Thatch like blond hair and a heavy ginger sheen was now afforded to his walrus like moustache. It quivered just so when I understood he was smiling.
"You must be Roselle Revel. I am Professor Horace Slughorn and I am the head of your house." He introduced graciously.
I smiled at him.
"Of course, Professor Dumbledore speaks very highly of you, sir." I complimented and the shiny buttons on his plum coat expanded to its very limits to contain his swelling chest.
"Ah, that man; he has taken you under his wing, I've heard. Such a man, a great man, I expect you to have some very exceptional talents to be worthy of his notice."
I thought back to my abysmal potion, grinning ruefully.
"I hope so sir."
"Good good; I can tell there is something about you, Miss Revel. Work hard and you might just make the Slug Club."
My smile slipped, eyes moving to where everyone was clearing out – Riddle included.
"Harry, my boy, so good to see you!" The bellowing roar of Slughorn made all four of you turn around, alarmed at the sight of him almost frothing at his moustache.
"Professor, we weren't expecting to see you out here." Harry stood up to shake his hand.
"Ah, the Broomsticks and I go back a long time. Say, I'm having a little do for celebrating some accomplishments of my little friends. Would you be game?"
"It would be an honor sir."
"Fantastic, look for my owl! You too, Granger," His eyes roved towards me and Ron. "Good to see you too, have a lovely day."
I waved him off, Ron's expression souring soon after his departure.
"Ok, since when have you been going to dos, of all things Potter?" I gulped at my butter beer.
"He has a group of favorites," Harry lowered his voice. "Called the Slug Club; Dumbledore wants me to join in."
"For what?" Ron asked.
"No idea."
Well, I did have an idea and this time I smiled in a very different realization. "Sir, it would be a great honor." I said slowly.
"I can't believe we have an astronomy class as soon as we've gotten here. What is even the point of looking at stars and planets?"
Alphard, Fawley and I looked up at Lila, who'd pushed her plate full of mashed potatoes away from her.
"It helps in Divination," Fawley said lightly but Lila snorted at him.
"As if, it's a stupid subject," she snapped, not unlike Hermione once had.
"And pray tell, what exactly is Arithmancy going to help you in?" Fawley shot back immediately.
"As enjoyable as it is, seeing you two fight," Alphard broke in when Lila's eyes widened indignantly. "We don't have time for this. It takes about ten minutes to climb up to the Astronomy tower and if it's not too much to ask, I'd like to get going. All the stairs are going to be a nightmare."
I glanced back quickly to see Lila blow a strand of hair at Fawley, her rich dusky complexion still flushed with her previous anger.
"Yeah, no use in arguing with little Baldy, his head's full of fuzz anyway." She slipped daintily out of her seat and with a quick chomp on some stray peas, I scrambled to follow.
I had to agree with Lila.
After climbing about twenty flights of stairs – I wish I was exaggerating – and then laying back out on the cold at the top most tower in Hogwarts, staring up into the abyss of space at twinkling balls of gaseous matter that somehow was an amalgamation of ancient magic and modern science, it took an excruciating toll on an already tired teenager.
It was a good twenty minutes after midnight when we all strolled from the top most point of the castle to the lowest – to the Slytherin dorms.
My feet hurt, my arms felt heavy from holding up the telescope to my eye and the strain of looking into the dark with nothing but wand light was enough to make me fall asleep, dangers of the Slytherin people be damned.
The sight of a tall, raven headed man disappearing off a corner made me pause.
I stopped immediately, my own head turning to check if I had been seeing things or not.
"Rose, you coming?"
I looked at Fawley.
"Go on ahead, guys, I need to go visit Dumbledore." I said curtly.
"Now? It's after midnight. You'll get caught in patrol." Lila frowned, her eyes already glazing over with near sleep.
"I'll be fine. You guys go on," I waited, watching them slowly turn around and join the other Slytherins before turning into the corridor.
My hand slipped into my pocket, wrapping around the handle of my wand and pulled it out, holding it tight to the side of my body – out of immediate sight but within reach.
The corridor was familiar, the first floor easy to maneuver but Riddle had disappeared so quickly around the corner it took me a while to figure out where he could've gone.
I couldn't hear any sounds from any shut doors and casting Homenum Revelio would be absolutely useless.
Reaching the second stairwell, I found myself running down the second hallway to the left, my footsteps the only ones that could be heard against the stone steps.
I paused, looking around.
Where could he have gone? Why was I so slow?
"Miss Revel,"
My eyes widened.
Turning slowly, my hand jerked once, about ready to defend myself against anyone but what I saw wasn't Riddle. Instead, it was Dumbledore; beige and gold pajamas decked over his frame, round glasses perched at the very edge of his crooked nose.
"Oh, professor," The speed at which the tension in my body subsided almost had me collapsing, wand arm hanging loose.
"I was waiting for you, my dear. Perhaps you lost your way."
I opened my mouth, before pausing. Something in his voice was very pointed, and it took me only a short time to realize he was giving me an easy way out, if I was caught. After all, I wasn't supposed to be walking about at night right now – no matter how much I'd done it back in my time.
"Yes sir, I got lost." I agreed meekly and he waved a hand, motioning for me to slip past him and into the open Transfiguration office.
The fireplace jumped to life when Dumbledore closed the door. The seeping heat felt cozy against my skin, the chill from the astronomy tower had settled deep into my bones.
"Have a seat, Rose." Dumbledore didn't prolong the conversation with any pleasantries. I walked over the chair I used to sit when I visited McGonagall and looked about.
Most of the intricate devices that I had once seen in Dumbledore's headmaster's quarters were now spread here. Sneakoscopes were placed in rows on familiar spindle like tables, glowing orbs hung in glass cases.
"Now then, how was your first day?" Dumbledore asked, drawing my eyes back to him.
For a moment I was at a loss. I thought back to Tom Riddle in front of me, insincere and yet thoughtful, saying it would be good to be friends. About how he would corrupt me…and the very real danger I was in…
"It was fine, professor." I said quietly.
"I see." Dumbledore leaned back. "How do you find Hogwarts?"
"It's the same as ever. I just feel…I suppose unsettled. I guess it's a feeling that's not going to go away anytime soon."
He didn't comment and I was grateful.
"The teachers find you quite accomplished. Professor Slughorn especially feels you might earn yourself a spot in his prestigious club."
I laughed lowly. "I didn't make it in the Slug Club back then; I doubt I'm going to make it now."
"Well, my dear; things have changed. You are a different person. Perhaps if you really wish to, you could absolutely gain a spot."
I stared at him.
"I am not going to ask you why you weren't headed back down to the Slytherin dorms. I may have a shrewd suspicion but I will not ask. But please, you must go to your dorm now, Rose. The prefects have started their patrol and I can only attest to your presence in the path of the dungeons."
I nodded.
Exiting Dumbledore's office was like being plunged back into defeated cold.
Riddle was long gone by now and Dumbledore was right. Caught anywhere else on a patrol would not only look suspicious but it would also get on Riddle's radar.
I couldn't afford that.
At least…not without a solid plan…
Right then! That was the chapter. Longer than the ones we've seen in a while but I didn't want to split it.
So, then what do you think of the story as of now? About Ro? About Tom? About the other characters?
Importantly, what are your thoughts about Tom's thoughts on Rose? There will be a chapter where we see his thoughts yes, but what do you think?
Until next time!